Could Claude Levi-Strauss's structural method of myth analysis be applyed to modern myths(urban legends)?

Question

I read the Four Myths of Winnebago that Claude Levi-Strauss applyed his method to for my anthropological thought class and I became really intrested.I was wondering if perhaps it could be applyed to urban legends and modern and past day american myths/legends (Pecos Bill,Paul Bunyan and the likes).I was thinking about doing a study/writeing a paper on this for my own enrichment outside of class.

Answer 1

This site is for those who do not know about or understand this type of analysis: http://www.colorado.edu/English/courses/ENGL2012Klages/levi-strauss.html

I did not actually read the Four Myths of Winnebago but am curious if he used the writings of Paul Radin about the epic cycles in myth of the Winnebago.
One of the statements made by Radin is "There is no school from within to draw lines, saying, 'This is science, that is religion!' Tribal societies have terms for the sacred, but not for religion. They have terms for special powers, but no demarcation between the natural and the supernatural. Our difficulty in defining religion for tribal societies is that we have an oppositional vocabulary to separate religious from nonreligious, natural from supernatural; they do not."

Levi-Strauss's method appears to understand/conceptualize that constraint. Many of the past day American myths/legends seem to embody that aspect also. However, I have difficulty with today's "urban legends". They seem to have something missing at their core. Anyway most of them that I have read. The legends that are in the movies have been rewritten by the screenwriters for continuity so I don't know how valid they would actually be.

In the end, it does sound like a valid endeaver. You may be able to pick-up on the modern-day urban psyche. Good luck and go for it!

Answer 2

I never read that, but you make me want to check it out.

I think "urban legends" do have the quality of traditional myths, at least some of the time. Urban legends usually have some kind of theme and warning about things you should or shouldn't do; like kids should listen to their parents, you shouldn't provoke wild animals, you shouldn't cheat on your wife or husband, etc.

I used to live in a small town and I heard a story that I don't know if it's true or not, but I like it. This guy used to get drunk and beat his wife every time he came home from work. She finally got fed up with it. One night, after another beating, he passed out drunk. She wrapped him in blankets and carefully sewed them together by hand. She proceeded to beat him with an iron skillet or a rolling pin, and he had to lay there and take it because he couldn't get out of the blankets. The story goes that they stayed married, he quit drinking and never beat her again. Maybe somebody made it up, but I think it's a pretty good story and I'll never forget it.